It feels like people are a lot nicer here than on Twitter and Reddit, and even when people disagree, it’s generally civil and not an all-out flame war. Also, there’s no algorithm promoting outrage all the time.

For me, the anticipation of toxicity was a huge deterrent for me ever participating in real discussions, but here I feel like I can be myself.

I think it’s healthier this way.

  • StinkySnork@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Add to it, some of us habitual lurkers (me for example) find it not as meaningless to comment. Didn’t want to do it often because most comments get buried and it would feel empty and kinda pointless.

    • davysnavy@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I sincerely hope it doesn’t. If Lemmy reaches the same levels of toxicity as reddit then I will be moving to a new platform with less people and hopefully less toxicity. Lemmy has opened my eyes to the fact that I don’t have to constantly deal with assholes in order to engage with people online. There are tons of good quality, friendly communities online, you just have to find them.

      • jarfil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If Lemmy reaches the same levels of toxicity as reddit then I will be moving to a new platform with less people and hopefully less toxicity.

        That’s called “defederating”. The strength of a federated platform, is you don’t need to switch platforms just to switch communities.

      • dudebro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Err… can’t you just stick with smaller instances that don’t federate with the ones you don’t like?

        Isn’t that the point of decentralization?

    • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      It also comes down to what instance you happen to visit. Lemmygrad for example is a legit tankie cesspit. There’s currently a popular post about Greta Thunberg and it pretty quickly devolves into calling her a traitor, because she met with Zelensky: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/902175?scrollToComments=true . Among other things you will find plenty of justification for the Russian invasion and their war crimes. And the admins openly support trolling outsiders. I’m on the left and I don’t have an issue with Marxism or the concept of communism, but fuck that instance.

      • aaron_griffin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I had no idea what “tankie” even was until recently. The internet is so weird.

        I think the broad problem with reddit and the like, which will leach into Lemmy with time unless we change things, is the slicing and dicing of the topic that is to be talked about.

        When you do this (“oh sorry this is r/typewriters, you should post in r/typewriter_repair instead!”), you treat people as vehicles for content. We make echo chambers and don’t communicate as whole individuals.

        So far Lemmy doesn’t have this divide. So far…

        • varzaman@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          When I was on Reddit, I responded to a guy in latestagecapitalism who was talking about how Stalin wasn’t that bad, and how everything we hear about the Soviets is fake information, made up as Western Propaganda.

          I chimed in telling him I’m Romanian, and how my grandpa was in WW2. I told him that my grandpa would always tell us anecdotes about how the Russians acted vs everyone else, and if anything it was worse than what we usually think of. Then I said that Stalin is too well known for it to all be fake.

          Well the response I got was the guy called my grandpa a liar. Then like 10 minutes later, I got permanently banned from the subreddit.

          That is when I learned what a Tankie was lol. And that the subreddit was infested with them.

          I took one look at Lemmygrad, and oof.

          • kd637_mi@lemmy.sdf.org
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            1 year ago

            Didn’t Romania fight on the Axis side for the majority of WW2? Wouldn’t fighting against the Soviet Union potentially colour someone’s thoughts on them?

            • varzaman@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              It’s complicated. A military coup happened against the King and put fascists in power. That’s when getting friendly with Germany happened. Later on the King regained control and that’s when Romania switched sides to the allies.

              And lol no, I don’t think fighting on the axis is the reason why people have a sour view on Russians and the USSR. I think the way the Soviets treat people is the reason they have a bad reputation.

              You think it’s an accident that as soon as the USSR broke up the bordering countries tried to join NATO asap?

      • Veltoss@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I can’t stand lemmy grad and I hope every instance defederates soon. They’re absolute scum of the earth edgelord contrarians and nothing more.

        • dudebro@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I haven’t seen them until this was mentioned.

          I hope users one day have the ability to block entire instances on their own.

  • Jackolantern@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Probably because all of us are real people struggling to find an alternative to Reddit where we used to spend our time in. No bots, no algorithms, just real people trying to make our new home a better place.

    • GCanuck@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Not enough people remember pre-Digg Reddit. It was a lot like Lemmy is now. It will all come crashing down eventually.

      • ilickfrogs@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They always do. Though in lemmys case I imagine it’ll be bigger instances running off with delusional admins thinking they’re some exception to the rule.

        • dudebro@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I can see some corporation coming along with a very strict adherence to whatever rules they set out becoming a major player in the fediverse.

          Usually it’s when mods moderate with an agenda that their instances go to shit.

  • MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    It’s wild. Maybe it’s a honeymoon period where we’re all in this big spaceship together, or maybe that’s just what it’s gonna be like! There’s a sort of liberating feeling of being on Lemmy that I think brings out the best in people

    • dudebro@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think the transparency goes a long way to keeping the platform (instances) high quality.

    • ShinyRatFace@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sure, but it took years for reddit to devolve into what it is today. It started out as a really great place to read interesting articles on all kinds of topics and have intelligent discussions about them afterwards. Reddit hasn’t been like that in a very, very, very long time but what we have going on here right now is very close to that.

      • jarfil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m afraid the bots and techniques to troll, manipulate, etc. that have been developed for Reddit, can directly translate to Lemmy. Instances that grow big fast, are likely to get targetted much faster than Ye Olde Reddit was.

  • Galaxyboy_3598@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I feel like there isn’t a “hive mind” on Lemmy like there was/is on Reddit. Even if just a few folks disagreed with your opinion on Reddit, everyone else felt like they HAD to downvote it too and then the next thing you know, you’re being downvoted to oblivion. Here, it seems that folks actually respect your opinion whether or not they agree with it; and while you may get a few downvotes or more, people aren’t afraid of upvoting your comment either.

    Such a different vibe and I’m here for it!

    • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think a hive mind will develop, just based on the nature of the format. In any community there will be prevailing opinions that are upvoted and dissenting opinions that are downvoted. People are still settling down and searching for their specific corners to camp in, which is why you’re probably seeing more variety for the time being.

      Plus Beehaw exists, so there’s your hive mind right there. Get it? Cause they’re bee themed? Beehive?

      • Legendsofanus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Is Beehaw like Lemmy? The world feels like it has exploded since Reddit died (imo), I have been never on the niche parts of the internet but this is so interesting and i like it. So is Beehaw worth checking out?

  • thezeesystem@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Agreed, on other platforms, as a generic trans girl, just existing there was call to action to yell at anything and everything I said or did or anything. I had boost when I was on Reddit and my filter of people and subreddits was extreme because of the hate they had.

    I only had to block sp*ders because of a extreme fear. Feels nice here.

  • ettyblatant@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I already see it and it bums me out. People are already stepping in a discussion just to be aggressively mean for no reason. I hope we can reply to them with patience instead of feeding the monster (or, just, y’know, don’t engage)

    Grumblegrumble this is our chance to be different!

    • Veltoss@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yep, that and people bringing along all the mindless echo chambers and circlejerking I was hoping to leave behind on reddit.

      People hated reddit for these reasons, and many of us left reddit for these reasons, and now these toxic assholes are doing everything they can to make lemmy just like reddit.

      I wish those people would just stay on reddit. If they want to make lemmy like reddit why did they even leave??

      • dudebro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        So… people should disagree with each other just to disagree?

        If you’re talking about biased mods, then I completely agree. But as far as the community, of course people are going to agree with what’s popular and disagree with what isn’t.

        That’s what makes things popular and unpopular.

        • Veltoss@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This is a real braindead take and I’m not sure what point you are trying to make here. If you can’t tell the difference between circlejerks and echo chambers, and people simply discussing things they mostly agree with, that’s your own problem.

          Doesn’t mean it’s not a real issue or a thing that even exists, that’s just a silly thing to even say.

    • MrMonkey@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I was aggressively downvoted for saying conservatives aren’t all greedy selfish assholes, and providing links to liberal sources to back up my claims.

      The left hates it when people who aren’t the left are allowed to speak.

      • ettyblatant@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Do you think -and I really mean this in earnest- that saying people unfairly slander conservatives and then unfairly slandering the left is counterproductive?

        • MrMonkey@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I didn’t slander shit. I posted two facts. Facts can’t be slander. You know I’m right, and you’re perfectly capable of using a search engine so don’t even bother going that route, I’m not here to teach you.

  • Toneswirly@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I like lurking, with a comment here or there. I have noticed the comment sections are giant circle jerks with everyone congratulating each other on how smart and civil they are. Better than aggression and trolling but still… ew.

    • dudebro@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’ve seen way more arguing than agreeing, but maybe it’s the communities I frequent.